May Will Be Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted by: Jan Meisels Allen

The month of May is Jewish American Heritage Month
(JAHM). This recognition was started by President George W. Bush in 2006 as a
result of the Jewish Museum of Florida and South Florida Jewish Community
leaders resulting in congressional leaders urging then-President Bush to
recognize the more than 350-year history of Jewish contributions to American
culture. The recognition of Jewish American Month has been continued by
President Barack Obama. JAHM acknowledges the achievements of American
Jews in fields ranging from sports and arts and entertainment to medicine,
business, science, government, and military service.

This year’s theme: American Jews in Entertainment.The JAHM recently revised and updated their
website to reflect this year’s theme. Go to: http://www.jahm.us. JAHM also included
theme related resources which you may find of interest. See:

Included on the website is the “Only in America Hall of
Fame”. It has categories from arts and entertainment, business and
philanthropy, literature, politics, law and activism, sports and more . See: http://survey.nmajh.org/index.php?category=1

In the past, presidents made an annual presidential
proclamation for JAHM. This usually occurs during the month of May and
therefore any 2013 proclamation is not yet posted but will be available on the
JAHM website when this year’s proclamation is available.